Mark Scarbrough on William Faulkner

There’s nothing like a Faulkner novel: overwhelming, breath-taking yet suffocating, free. The prose is haunting and maddening; the diction, erudite and home-spun. Then there are the plots that strike to the heart of the tragedy and comedy that is our American project. And then there’s the man, an uneducated alcoholic, singularly ill-prepared to be a Nobel laureate (or any sort of literary type whatsoever). No wonder the mere mention of Faulkner’s name strikes fear into undergrads! And maybe some of us, too. But skip the jitters and join us to explore possibly the greatest American author, certainly one of the greatest novelists ever.

In eight weeks, we’ll cover four novels, have grand discussions of American art and history, and get too-close-for-comfort glimpses of American rancor, Southern defeat, and the happy ending Faulkner believed was the sum of human existence. If it sounds like an avid reader’s notion of bliss, that’s because it is.

First Reading: The Wild Palms (aka If I forget thee, Jerusalem, 1939) Complete

Books will be available on a limited basis at the circulation desk.
Books will be available for sale at Oblong Books & Music